Kushner and LGBTQ+ Themes - Blog Post #8

Question: After reading Kushner, discuss how the themes of LGBTQ+ and gender identity intersect with displacement and/or power dynamics in Kushner’s work.

The AIDS epidemic hit hard in the 1980s. The rumor that it was a "gay man's disease" spread rapidly throughout America despite the fact that it affected men and women. The president at the time only mentioned AIDS by name in 1987 and only talked about it after 12,000 people had died. AIDS killed more Americans than WWII and Iraq. Angels in America by Tony Kushner opened as a Broadway play in 1993 and was essentially a precursor to the musical RENT which more people are aware of. It covered many social topics, from LGBTQ+ issues, to the struggles of being Jewish, to gender differences. 

The story follows many different people who all end up being interconnected. One relationship is that of Louis and Prior. Louis is a Jewish man and Prior has been diagnosed with AIDS. This sparks a sort of contention and uncertainty between the pair because no one knew enough about the disease to even know if there was a cure or how it could be spread. The amount of people who died due to AIDS was astounding. The amount of fear surrounding the disease led to an exponential increase in deaths that could have been preventable. People had to live out their lives in hospitals away from everyone that they loved. They might have even had to quarantine, something we now understand much better, and be alone for what could potentially be the rest of their days. As for the power aspect, there was Roy M. Cohn. He was a New York Lawyer who had a ton of influence in the political sphere. Once he contracted AIDS he was able to persuade those working on the studies of AZT (a new medicine meant to delay the effects of AIDS) and got his own medicine rather than participating in a trial where he could have potentially gotten a placebo (Kushner 156). I imagine that this was quite a common occurrence. Those with power always have sway even in a crisis. 

Another type of displacement was that of gender as seen by Harper. Her husband, Joseph Pitt, was a closeted gay man married to a woman with a Valium addiction. They go through a lot together, which Joe trying to take care of Harper while trying to figure himself out. There marriage isn't necessarily a happy one. Harper ends up leaving Joe, before he leaves her. Joe got a job offer from Washington but Harper doesn't want to go. It's a difficult situation to navigate without the medications and the secret love affair that Joe has with Louis. Harper leaves their house. She has now been displaced, maybe be her own free will, but she didn't have much of a choice. The problem with this is that the man in the marriage has the most power. Joe is the one looking after Harper, he's the one with a job, he's the only 'sane' one in the relationship. Harper doesn't leave the house and when she does, she gets arrested for stealing a tree from the arboretum (Kushner 145). 

Kushner's work covered a variety of heavy topics for a time where there was a lot of turmoil between various social groups of America, but he covered the topics very well in my opinion.